title: Elderly patients in a general surgical unit: do they block beds?
abstract: In a prospective study of patients aged 65 years and over admitted to a general surgical unit only one patient in 10 remained in hospital for more than a month and fewer than one patient in a hundred became a "bed-blocker." While the over-65s had mean and median durations of stay which were longer than those of younger patients, in almost all cases a prolonged stay in hospital resulted from postoperative morbidity and was not related to social or administrative factors. Only a reduction in the incidence of postoperative morbidity could achieve a significant saving in the number of bed-days occupied by elderly people.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001509:Bed Occupancy; D005260:Female; D006748:Hospital Departments; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital